The Russian Federation and Syria are strengthening ties to safeguard the region and boost central forces against the destabilization policies of certain NATO and Gulf nations. Hence, the 49-year deal to expand and modernize the Tartus Port in order to hold up to eleven military warships of the Russian Federation. This also includes possible nuclear-powered military ships from this nation. Therefore, the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria knows that while the conflict is still raging in parts of this nation, the fact is that Syria is gradually solidifying events on the ground with the prime example being recent events in Aleppo.

Equally important for Syria, it is clear that the intrigues of Turkey against the government of Assad are gradually declining based on the changed geopolitical landscape despite differences remaining. In other words, nations like the Russian Federation and Iran have stemmed the failed state policy agenda of certain NATO and Gulf powers that stems from parts of the Balkans, North Africa, the Middle East, and all the way to Afghanistan.

Tass News quotes Sergei Zheleznyak, a member of the State Duma, who says, “The signing of this Russian-Syrian agreement on an enlargement of the territory of the naval facility in Tartus for 49 years will help protect the Syrian people from the terrorist threat and, on top of that, will make it possible to consolidate stability across the Middle Eastern region.”

It is equally hoped that the new administration of President Donald Trump of America will change track. In other words, the focus will turn to the Islamic State (ISIS) and other Sunni Islamist Takfiri terrorist groups that spill the blood of all and sundry. If so, then the demise of the Obama administration and the lame duck reality of President Hollande in France who will soon pass into dust, means that the Damascus, Moscow, and Tehran jigsaw is gradually overcoming enormous adversity.

Iraq will equally gain from the changed environment once more swathes of Syria come under government control. Similarly, while military attacks in and around Mosul – and other areas of ISIS-controlled Iraq – remains tense, the hope is that sooner or later the Takfiri dam will burst. Of course, the terrorist threat will remain and internal political developments will continue to remain complex in Iraq and Syria. However, at least more international cohesion – along with certain nations leaving the failed state agenda – means that genuine opportunities for decreasing tensions are in the offing.

It is equally hoped that Egypt and Syria will increase ties based on favorable respective relations with the Russian Federation. In other words, the Sunni Islamist Takfiri tide and the political old guard in major Western nations including America and France are changing. After all, Hollande in France is on his last legs and the reign of Obama is over. Therefore, new developments that favor central forces in Syria are emerging and certain terrorist ratlines are also drying up based on the old guard decreasing in numbers.

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